Crossroads
by Solareon
Summary: At a crossroads in their lives, a father and son now separated, try to find peace in a broken world.
1. First Steps

_Solareon: Say the Disclaimer._

_Shane: Ain't saying nothing._

_Solereon: Say the Disclamier!_

_Shane: Ain't saying no damn Disclaimer!_

_Solereon: Say the mother f**king Disclaimer or I will force you to watch warm Bodies!_

_*Shane visibly shutters at the thought.*_

_Shane: The Walkining Dead belongs Robert Kirkman and AMC, Solareon owns nothing but the the original stories he writes._

_Solareon: That wasn't so hard now was it?_

_Shane: You're a sick f**k for threatening me with that!_

_Solareon: I know._

_Shane: So that's the last time I'm gonna have to guest start in this right?_

_Solereon:..._

_Shane:..._

_Solereon: Anyway, let's get this train wreck started!_

**First things first, this is set some months after the Governor dies, The prison is safe, and Rick's group came out on top. Now ya can go ahead and already count this as not canon to the TV storyline, because I know most of this isn't going to happen in the show, at least not the way I see it. This is more so a story which shares the past of the TV show, but will have a future that takes elements from both Comic and TV adaptions. Ya can call it a parallel universe that starts after the episode "I ain't a Judas." **

**This is a sequel to my one-shot story 'Tomorrow is tomorrow and Today is Today.' But it can be read separately.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: First steps**

Everything was a blur at the moment, all of his senses were out of focus. His breathing was labored, sounds from the world were being drowned out by his feet slamming into the earth as he ran faster than he had ever done in his entire life. The pounding in his chest from his accelerated heart rate, the fire in his lungs burning his throat as he was panting with every breath. He's sure that if he doesn't stop running soon, he'll be dead no matter what the outcome of this nightmare was.

Carl Grimes was in trouble, of that he was sure. He had been running for the last half an hour straight around the prison, his body was drenched in sweat and every muscle in his body was on fire, protesting the thought of continuing this suicidal mission of self-preservation. Carl couldn't stop though, if he did, his pursuers would no doubt capture the teenager, and he couldn't let that happen.

As the teenager tried to keep from falling flat on his face, the young man running along side of him was failing to even stay on his own legs.

The young man was one Glenn Rhee, and he had been stumbling to keep up for the last five minutes. It wasn't that Glenn was out of shape, no, not by a long shot, but the problem was that Glenn had tried to avoid their pursuers longer than Carl, so his body was showing the effects of exhaustion sooner than Carl's.

Glenn's legs finally gave out on him as he tripped over his own footing, and Carl turned around to witness Glenn collapsing to the earth in fatigue.

Rushing over to his side, Carl tried with all his might to get the man up "Glenn you can't stop here. Get up, get up, get up!" Carl whispered yell. He was afraid that if he talked any louder the hunters would find them faster, but he knew they were coming no matter what. The sounds of the hunters taunts could be heard in the distance.

"I...I..." Glenn was having trouble even forming words through all of his panting. "I can't Carl...I just can't...leave-"

Carl had cut Glenn off by slapping the older man in the face twice, then he said. "No one gets left behind! Think of Maggie"

"I can't Carl, you're gonna have to leave me."

"Please get u-" Carl had stopped talking as soon as he heard the sounds of their pursuers grew closer, they were on their tail, and they wouldn't stop till they had both of them captured.

Turning his head to Carl, Glenn screamed "Run!"

Carl didn't have to be told twice, the teen ran and didn't look back, afraid of what he might see. The sounds of Glenn's horrified screams and the hunter's cackling laugh was enough to paint him a picture about what was going to happen to his friend.

The sound of screaming and the hunter's laughing was still ringing in his ears as Carl ran into the prison. Glenn was gone, there was no debate about it, but the time for mourning wasn't now. Carl's only concern right now was finding Beth and then finding away to escape these sadistic man men.

* * *

When Carl reached the nearest holding cell in C-block, he took the time to catch his breath, leaning his sweaty body against the wall, trying to formulate a plan. The tombs were the agreed safe zone if anything like this was to ever happen, but Carl wasn't even sure if the tombs would be safe. These bastards were just too damn knowledgeable about the prison, maybe even more so than Carl if it was possible.

Suddenly a hand had darted out from behind him and covered his mouth before he could even yell. Every muscle in his body had tensed up all over again, and fear of capture never seemed so absolute. It wasn't until Carl noticed that the hand covering his mouth wasn't one of the hunters, but of Beth Greene's.

Noticing Carl had somewhat relaxed, Beth removed her hand from his mouth and instantly brought him into a bone crushing embrace. Carl returned the embrace with just as much force, trying his best to hold onto her and provide comfort for the both of them.

When the two teens separated, Carl took the chance to look Beth over, making sure she was alright. Beth was just as drenched in sweat as he was, her hair was threatening to break out of it's already loose ponytail, and it was clear that she was even more tired than he was at the moment, judging by her harsh intakes of breath.

"They got Maggie" She cried out, throwing her arms over Carl again.

"Glenn too, outside in the yard." Carl Said.

The fear was clear in her voice as she said "We need to get out of here Carl, before we're next."

She was right, they were running out of time till the hunters found them, and he refused to fall like the others.

They ran out of the cell block as fast as their legs could take them, but they knew that if they ran together that they might attract the those sadist chasing them. The only option the two teens had been to split up. Carl silently hoped that they'd catch him and Beth could make her escape.

As they reached the separation point, Beth gave Carl a quick kiss on the lips "For luck." She said.

Then without another word, the older girl sprinted down a separate hallway, leaving Carl to do the same. It wasn't until one minute later that Carl would hear Beth's screams as she was no doubt capture by those crazy bastards. His heart dropped into his stomach, and Carl knew he had failed her.

Reaching the tombs seemed to take longer than it ever had since he had been in the prison, his legs felt like rubber as he fell to the floor, unable to keep standing on his feet.

Maybe it was the shame of failing Beth, or maybe the fact that he had now been running for a complete hour, but Carl just couldn't run anymore. His body was screaming at him to just stop moving and accept this was the end.

"Well, well, well. Seems like we got ya little man." The sadistic man said as he entered the tomb, the other members of his group followed soon after. Carl wasn't even sure which hunter he hated more, all four were equal as sadistic as the next.

There was nothing left Carl could do, he had lost, and everyone knew it. This man had won. Now It was time to face the music.

* * *

Merle Dixon was loving this, I mean if he was ever more in love with this moment, he'd need some condoms to make sweet ever lasting Dixon love to this moment, then make it an honest woman and marry the damn moment.

When Merle arrived at the prison at the beginning of the week to visit, he had come with a plan in mind. A plan that Daryl, Tyreese, Andrea and himself had worked on for the last two weeks. The plan was a simple training exercise and damn it to hell it was a rough one.

The four had all agreed that even though that it had been great enjoying the peace ever since the governor had been killed, they wanted to make sure their group was better trained for combat situations.

Merle being in the Army, he was the one who came up with the idea to turn half of the prison into a training ground. Andrea, Daryl, and Tyreese agreed it was good thinking, the other survivors...well they had been less than thrilled. Hershel was one of the few survivors that seemed to think it was amusing, and said some work outs would do his body good.

So now everyday since Merle had arrived at the prison, the four would train the prison survivors from morning till night. Everyone had been pushed way beyond their limits, but it was all to prepare just in case they'd ever have to go to war again.

The survivors though were a lot less thankful than Merle had hoped, in fact he was pretty sure he had made an enemy in everyone from the prison now, hell he was sure that Officer friendly's kid was gonna try to cut of his other hand. _'Maybe I can stick a chainsaw on the other stump' _Merle thought to himself.

Said officer friendly's kid was doing push ups in the dirty, muddy ground, while Merle stood over him, foot on his back to make the push ups more difficult.

Across from the teen, Glenn was doing push ups as too, only Daryl had his boot on Glenn's back, muttering something Carl couldn't hear, but whatever it was Glenn had visibly gone pale.

Andrea was offering words of encouragement to Sasha, Carol, and Hershel's daughters to finish their own work outs. "C'mon girls just forty more and then we can call it a day." The woman cringed at the number, but continued on, the thought of rest being the only thing pushing them anymore.

Andrea, Daryl, Merle, and Tyreese had all been in charge of leading different training seasons. They had been dubbed by the survivors as the Sadists, or trainers.

Andrea was in charge of target practice and endurance training, both of which she turned into one season in it self when she could, sometimes making the other survivors train none stop without break to recreate her own experience of being left in the woods at the farm. She called it a good training exercise, the others called it payback and torture.

Daryl train them on surviving in the wilderness, he'd take the group out to the woods with nothing, but a knife and they'd have to stay out there for however long he felt it was needed. Daryl would always stay close to the group during the two days, offering advice when needed, and making sure they didn't get overrun by walkers. Yet when it came to capturing food they were on their own, same went for if the survivors would use the wrong plant out in the woods and end up with an itchy ass from poison oak.

The easiest of the training seasons had been Tyreese's, the gentle giant was in charge of strength training. Now when the survivors thought of easy, isn't what most people that easy would, while Tyrese didn't torture the group like the rest of the hunters, he did push them to the point where walking up the stairs, or picking up a bowl of cereal, would be a pained action

The worst of the worst training had to have been Merle, which since today was sunday, he was in charge of today's training season. Which consisted of the trainers hunting down the survivors around the prison, almost like a game of tag, or hide and go seek. If the trainers didn't find you by noon, than you'd wouldn't have to train for the day, and if they did, than you'd have to do all the exercises that Merle would force you to do. No one ever find a way to escape all four hunters.

The woman had finished their workout early and Andrea had let them go for the day, yet Glenn and Carl wouldn't be so lucky, since Merle had personally caught them himself, they were still stuck doing what training he wanted them to do. So after working out with Merle and Daryl, they'd have to report to Tyreese for weight lifting training, and then **back **to Merle for hand to hand/blade combat training.

"Please guys, no more." Glenn said.

Merle just laughed and replied "No can do little man, this for your own good."

Carl just sighed as he went on with his push ups. _'Why couldn't Otis of just finished me off?'_ He thought to himself._ 'Or maybe the CDC, yeah I just should just stayed in bed at the CDC._ This was training from hell.

* * *

Come night fall everyone was dead tired, just walking back into the prison felt like sprinting a mile. After their training the group had all gone off to the showers and then rushed to feed their growling stomachs.

Dinner for the night was Deer, provided by Merle and Daryl, the most sadistic hunters Carl would ever have the misfortune to know. Carl wasn't a stranger to being taught things, but he wasn't use to the sink or swim way the Dixon men did things. His father had been the gentle teacher, and even Shane wouldn't even push him that hard, yet the results showed, Carl was becoming a better survivalist as the training seasons went on.

After dinner, Carl made the longest journey he'd ever have to make in his life. The journey, to his cell room. It was long and hard one, every step feeling like his legs would just snap off or set on fire, or out right quit on him, and force the teen to sleep on the floor.

Five grueling minutes later, he had finally gotten to his room, throwing off his over shirt, he flopped on thetop bed hos his bunk bed. At that moment Carl loved his bed more than anything in the world, it should have been a crime to love a bed that much, and one day he'd make an honest woman out of his bed and marry it.

As Carl rested his head on his pillow, he heard the grumbling of one Beth Greene, as she entered his cell and collapsed on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed.

It was the way things went sometimes after training, Beth would confuse the cell rooms, because of being so tired and would just fall into the first cell she go to, that always being Carl's. Not that the boy minded that at all.

The two had gotten pretty close since the war ended, they had even shared their first kiss in the guard tower. It was the perfect moment for the two teens, a perfect moment that had been ruined by Glenn walking in on them.

Carl had made Glenn promise not to say a word to anyone about what he saw, the last thing he wanted was to explain to Hershel or Maggie his relationship with Beth. They could try to have the talk with him again! Something that he had been painfully force to hear from Merle Dixon. He heard it from his parents first, but after the Merle had caught him staring at Beth, the man had sat him down and had told him _his _version of the talk. Carl was sure if the world ever got back to normal he'd need therapy.

In his own cell, Hershel Greene was chatting with Merle, nothing important, just small talk. How Woodbury was going, if he had found any interesting new books, how the training was going, just little things. Hershel really enjoyed the company of the man, the Dixons had always provided Hershel with the feeling of having sons, something he enjoyed greatly. Even though he loved his daughters with all his heart, and wouldn't trade them for the world, it nice to treat the Dixon men as his sons, talk about the things he couldn't talk of with his girls.

What had made Hershel even closer to Merle than most, was the fact that he had given Hershel the ability to walk again. The elder Dixon had made a prosthetic leg for Hershel, it had taken days to find all the tools and parts he'd need to design the leg, and it had taken even longer to build it and make it perfect for Hershel, but in the end, Merle had presented him with a brand new leg and Hershel couldn't have been more grateful.

Merle had claimed it wasn't nothing big, just thanking the old man for being in his corner when he needed it. Hershel had thanked him regardless, and so did both his daughters. For Hershel, knowing he could go back to being a more active member of the group, was priceless.

The Dixon brothers had their demons, everyone knew that, but Hershel had helped both over come them. Having had his own past an abusive father and abusing substances himself, it was easy to spot the problems of the Dixons. Each man had reminded Hershel so much of himself was he was younger, and both men would come to see themselves in Hershel.

"Well old-timer, I'll let ya get some sleep." Merle said as he made his way out of Hershel's cell. "Got some things to finish up outside."

* * *

All around the prison, people were preparing to call it a night, the only ones still up had been Daryl, Merle, Carl, Andrea, and Carol.

Carl was making his way to the guard tower, to let Andrea get some sleep and to start his first watch of the night at the guard tower. Daryl was making some extra bolts for his crossbow, and Carol was talking with Merle as he loaded up his truck for the drive back to Woodbury in the morning.

The long hot nights of summer had long since ended, and now the cool breeze of fall had started again. Remind everyone that winter was only around the corner, something that made the survivors thankful for having a stable shelter.

Carol was sitting in the passenger side of Merle's truck, watching the man unload the supplies had brought to the prison, and load up his own things to take back to Woodbury. She had offered to help him, but Merle had just said he wasn't taking no women for help with something he could do easy.

It amused Carol that after all the progress Merle had made over the last couple of months, he'd still be as stubborn as could be when it came to accepting help from others. Must be the Dixon pride, because Daryl was the same way, even when it came down to simple task like washing his cloths for him.

So letting it go, Carol just watched as Merle finished his work unloading and reloading his truck. It didn't take too long, and when he finished, Merle had taken to leaning against the side of his truck, enjoying the cool breeze slightly hitting his body.

As Carol and Merle stayed in each others company, she had started to spend more time with him, at first it had started as just to make sure he wasn't planning on taking Daryl away from them, but soon she realised they had become friends. She wasn't sure when she had gotten use to the idea of being friends with Merle Dixon, and sometimes it still felt odd to be in the company of a man that she had once compared to Ed. Looking back on it, she couldn't have been more wrong. Merle could be a hard case, that was for sure, an asshole no doubt, but he wasn't a woman beater who _looked_ at his own daughter.

Merle had realized after the first couple of night at the prison, if he didn't try to get along with the group, he either end up dead, or worse, losing his brother again. So slowly, the redneck had looked passed his pride, and tried his best to make amends with the other members of the group. If he wanted to stay alive and with Daryl, he knew he'd have to get past his own grudges and bad habits.

Even so after trying to make a change, it didn't mean it had been easy for Merle to earn all the trust from everyone. Each member of the group took their own time to trust and accept Merle.

The first person Merle had won over was Hershel. The farmer had taken a leap of faith and had stuck up for Merle during the first days of the war with the Governor. Trusting that Merle's love of his brother would keep him loyal to the group, and his skills from being in the military would make them stronger in the upcoming battles. So, Merle had gotten Hershel on his side, but the others had been another story.

Glenn was still hell-bent on either killing Merle or giving him up to the governor to form a truce, something that had caused him and Daryl to be at odds for some time. The redneck refused to lose his brother again, and would do anything in his power to keep Merle with him. It had taken Merle saving Maggie's life during another raid from the governor's troops to finally make Glenn and Maggie look at the man differently. It didn't make Glenn and Maggie friends with Merle, but it had destroyed any question about where his loyalties had been.

Others in the group had come around to trust Merle after that, Beth trusted him because the man had saved her sister's life, instantly gaining favor with the young woman. Since Beth had trusted him, Carl soon followed, with Carl came Rick, then soon after Carol and finally Tyrese and Sasha. Who mind you took time in trusting almost everyone, since they still had the memory of Rick's freak out fresh in their minds.

The only one who took the longest to come around to Merle, had been Michonne. She still had a grudge against him, and even after the governor was killed, she still hadn't fully forgiven Merle for trying to kill her. She did however no longer express the unstoppable lust she had to cut off his other hand...at least they all hoped so.

"Yer thinking to much again." Merle's raspy voice said breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Maybe you just don't think enough." She said with a dry look on her face.

"Just saying woman, ya gotta learn to jus relax." Merle said.

"And why is that Merle?"

"Cus ya got ol Merle with his southern charm to keep yer company." He said puffing out his chest.

Shaking her head Carol gave a snort at Merle. "Always the humble one Merle."

Merle laughed at the response. "Daryl use to say the damn thing bout me, guess ma baby brother been rubbing off on y'all." He said.

A small smile played on Carol face as she heard Merle continue to brag, but she didn't say anything. Daryl had infected them all with his deadpan snarky comments, and after some time, even sweet little Beth found herself talking as sarcastic as Daryl could be.

Carol's smile soon faded as she looked up at the guard tower, Merle followed her gaze to the tower to see what the woman was looking at.

Up in the guard tower, they could see Carl keeping watch over the prison, his face as stoic as ever. A face that he'd wear more times than the others would like.

'I wonder how long he'll be up there tonight.' Carol thought to herself.

Ever since Rick had left the prison, the teen had taken to staying on watch longer than the others. He'd always just volunteer to take anyone's watch or not even bother to leave the tower when his own was up. Many of times he'd be up in the tower till sunrise and Daryl would have to practically throw the kid out of the tower to get him up. No one asked why though, they all knew what was on Carl's mind and never press the boy, they just allowed him to always get lost in his own thoughts during watch.

It had now been three weeks since Rick had left the prison on a quest to restore his mental health, and come to terms with the loses he had suffered, and the horrible choices he had been forced to make since the dead had come back to life.

Many members of the group had asked if they could go with Rick, Carl being the first of all of them, but his father had refused, saying he wouldn't put his son's life in danger, and said that his place was here to watch over the group.

Daryl had asked as well to go along, but had been shot down even quicker than Carl. Then with Rick's next breath had made Daryl the leader of the group. Saying that Daryl was his brother in everything but blood, and he couldn't think of anyone else better for the job. It had left Daryl speechless, but he accepted it nonetheless.

The only person that was even able to persuade Rick to not go alone had been Michonne, and she had done it in a very Michonne like way as well.

When Rick was packing up his car, gearing up for his journey ahead, Michonne had snuck up on him, and put her sword to his throat. Saying that he wasn't going to just go off alone and end up getting killed, leaving his kids as orphans. And for some odd reason that worked, Rick agreed to take the swords-woman with him as his backup. There had been long goodbyes and promises of return, then Rick had left, with only Michonne to watch over the broken man.

"So, office friendly...when ya think we'll be seein em again?" Merle asked.

"I'm not...I'm not sure when he'll be back." Carol said.

"Think he dead?" Said Merle.

Carol just shook her head. "No, not Rick. No matter what happened, he'd find a back to Carl and Judith. There his world and he's theirs."

Merle could say many things about Rick Grimes, and shit, most of the time he did, regardless of who was around, but even Merle knew that the man had loved his family more than anything. The kinda love that'd make a man kill, make a man die to protect his kids, that was the love that Rick had for Carl and Judith.

Stepping out of Merle's truck, Carol yawned and said to Merle. "I'm going to go check on the baby, see if she's hungry before I catch some sleep before my watch."

"I'll walk with ya, might as well turn in too." Merle said as he followed Carol back to the prison.

* * *

Carl watched as Merle and Carol walked into the prison, the two were talking about something that was making Carol laugh, probably another baby Daryl story. Ever since Merle and the group had gotten on good terms, Merle would always some amusing stories from the Dixon's past.

"Nice night out isn't it?"

Jumping slightly at the voice, Carl quickly turned around to see Hershel. The older man had an amused smile on his face.

"Yeah, it is." Carl said as he turned back to look out from the tower.

Hershel made his way over to Carl and joined the boy at looking out into the night sky.

The teenager had a feeling he knew why Hershel was with him at the moment instead of resting, but he was hoping he was wrong. _'Maybe he just wants out to star gaze too._' Carl thought.

"So a little bird told me, you and my daughter have been getting pretty close." The old man said.

_'Hope is for bitches.'_ Carl thought.

Feeling his face heat up, Carl lowered his head, hoping the darkness of night and his hat would cover the deep blush on his face.

Sensing Carl's discomfort, Hershel laughed a little. "No worries my boy." He said as he placed a hand on the teen's shoulder. "This isn't an interrogation."

_'Then why do I feel like Andrea should be here!'_ Carl screamed in his head. "Yeah." Carl said giving strained smile Hershel's way.

It was important to Hershel that Carl knew he wasn't here to be an over protective father, only a caring father, looking to find out what was going on between his youngest daughter and the young man she was clearly falling for.

Realizing Hershel was only here to talk, Carl relaxed a bit. "I guess we are. She's always there when I need her." There was still some nervousness is his voice as he talked, but when it came to Beth, Carl knew he'd have to answer Hershel's questions. "I just hope I can protect her."

"You're a good young man Carl, I know you'll treat her right." Hershel said trying to ease the boys worries.

"I will. I promise" Carl said confidently.

Nodding at Carl's words, Hershel turned to make his leave, satisfied with what hen heard.

It wasn't until the old man had made it to the door to leave the tower and Carl had returned to his star-gazing, that Hershel called out "Just promise me I won't be having any grandchildren soon."

Hershel didn't bother to turn around and look back at Carl, he knew how red the teen face could from his comment and that had only made Hershel give soft chuckles as he made his way away from the teenager.

Sighing Carl turned back to the stars, hoping that his blush would go away soon, before his extremely bright, red face attracted any walkers from across the state. Soon the blush would disappear and Carl's face had gone back to looking a little sad.

"I wonder if you're looking at these same stars dad." Carl said to the sky.

* * *

Tossing another log in the fire, Michonne sat down on the cold earth. She let herself bask in the warmth of her cloak that she had gone back to wearing, it was tattered in many spots here and there, and Michonne was sure that it probably wouldn't last another two seasons, but it was good enough for now.

Michonne was keeping watch over the camp as Rick stood some yards away staring into the night sky, thinking of his children. He had no doubt in his mind that they were safe, he just missed seeing them. He had been gone from the prison now for at least two weeks by his count, but it feel like two months.

The two were on their way to the way to where it all began for Rick, the first camp the original Atlanta survivors had stayed at, a quarry just outside the city of Atlanta, Georgia near Interstate 85.

Rick was going to pay his respects to those he lost during the night of a walker attack, a night that Rick considered to be his first horrible experience as a leader, but it wouldn't be his last...

Walking over to the campfire, Rick gave a nod to Michonne as he sat across from the her. He was grateful for her help, since her own survival skills had made this journey he was on much easier. It had been her idea to find a pair of walkers and use them as repellent whenever they would make camp. So now when they had to make camp for the night, Michonne would go hunting for Walkers, cut their arms off and smash their teeth out, then chain them up near their camp to use them as repellent for other walkers.

Rick was first to speak up over the sound of the wood burning in the fire. "We'll be at the quarry by mid-day tomorrow, we just gotta make to the interstate." He said. "And if the road's to blocked off by abounded cars or walkers, I know some other way to get there."

"Ya seem to know this place pretty well." Michonne mused as she lowered her Hood.

"That was where this whole mess started for me, couldn't forget those roads even if I wanted to." And Rick had wanted to forget anything about his time in Atlanta. Everything from almost getting eaten by walkers, to having to cover himself in walker guts.

"Hope ya find what ya looking for Rick." Michonne said.

"Guess I'll find out." Rick replied.

The conversation died out after that, and soon two would just stay in silence for a while, it was a comfortable silence though, the type of silence that Rick was starting to like about being around Michonne.

Michonne had started to sharpen her sword, and Rick had turned his eyes back to the stars, thinking of his son and daughter. The only sound that could be heard, was the crackling of the campfire as the Sheriff and Swords-woman sat by the dying flame.


	2. The Number 22

**Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback last chapter, I really needed it lol.**

** So to _SuperNeos2, Fallout2012, and deelove1_, I gotta thank ya guys!**

**Disclaimer: The walking Dead belongs Robert Kirkman and AMC, I own nothing at all to do with the Walking dead sadly. **

**Enjoy the chapter.**

**P.S. I deleted and re-upload this chapter. I went through and fixed some scenes.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Number 22**

The sun shined over the prison, illuminating the fortress in its glow. All was peaceful this morning, at least it was if you could ignore the groans of the walkers that were shambling outside the prison walls, as they tend to do.

It was still early in the morning, but most of the survivors had already woken up, many of them to start their chores for the day after breakfast. The sounds of light small talk gathered through the cafeteria as members of the group discussed what they were going to do today, the only one not present had been the second youngest of the group who had fallen asleep in the guard tower again and Merle Dixon, since he was busy packing things into his truck with some last minute items, for the trip back to Woodbury.

Up in the guard tower, Carl was tossing and turning in his sleep, visions of the past dancing in his head. He was lost in a nightmare that he had thought he had outgrown a long time ago, but the sound of the voice in his head said otherwise.

_**"As long as I'm around you, nothings gonna happen to you, Carl."**_ Shane's voice said.

"But you're not!" Carl Screamed back to the voice. "You tried to kill my dad! You made him kill you!" Carl's voice then got quiet. "We trusted you...I trusted you."

Shane's voice then morphed into his father's. **_"No more kid stuff. I wish you could have the childhood I had, but that's not going to happen."_**

Now Carl was screaming again at the ever transforming voice. "I didn't want your childhood! I just wanted you there for me!"

The voice ignored Carl and said.**_ "People are going to die. I'm gonna die. Mom. There's no way you can ever be ready for it."_**

"I wasn't ready for it! But you could have at least tried to help me help me when I needed you!" His voice was cracking now, he didn't even know why he was arguing with these voices, or memories, or whatever the hell they were.

The voice began to change again, and that was the voice that would break Carl.

**_"You are going to beat this world."_ **Lori's voice was now talking to him, re-saying her last words to her son.

"No, please, stop!" Tears were now running down Carl's face as he begged the voice in his head to stop, but the voice just continued to talk, like it never heard him.

The voice was now starting to sound almost sadistic as it said **_"You're so good, my sweet boy."_**

He couldn't take it anymore, Carl was screaming "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't save you!" Over and over again. His voice cracking ever single time.

**_"Best thing I ever did and I love you, I love you. My sweet, sweet, boy I love you."_ **The voice was now fully demonic sounding, its words coming out as more of sadistic spat, than his mother's comforting voice. The voice was laughing now, mocking him, mocking him for being weak, for crying, for not being able to save anyone.

Carl knew what was coming next before the voice even said it, but it didn't help the teenager any. The voice then screamed it the most sickening deep voice.**_ "GOODNIGHT LOVE!"_** Over and over again.

With a strangled gasp, Carl woke up from his nightmare, sitting upright on the cold mental he had been sleeping on, panting and drenched in a cold sweat, and tears running down his cheeks. The teen's hair was a mess, and was sticking to his sweaty face, as was his shirt that was also stuck to his chest.

It took a complete twenty seconds of trying to get his breathing under control, then another twenty seconds to notice he wasn't alone in the guard tower, and finally a thirty seconds to realize that Merle Dixon was leaning over the railing of the guard tower, his back facing Carl, looking out at the rising sun.

When Merle noticed Carl had taken notice to his presence, the man grabbed a rag out of his back packet and tossed it to Carl without a word.

Then wordlessly Carl whipped the tears off his face and stood up slowly, legs feeling like dead weight on him. Carl then noticed their was some food in a bowl near him. He tilted his head a little to the side, almost like a confused dog.

Noticing his confusion Merle said. "Yer were late for breakfast, thought ya scrawny ass would be hungry for sum grub."

Carl picked up the bowl and muttered thanks to the redneck and ate some of the food, he didn't eat much, just enough to make it look like he did.

Merle then walked past the teen, and had started to exit the tower, then he called out "C'mon deputy, time I head back to Woodbury, show me out."

Carl raced to catch up to Merle, but not before grabbing the bowl of half eaten food. Last thing they needed was the smell of spoiled food left in the guard tower.

As they walked in silence out of the guard tower and into the yard of the prison, Carl could see that Daryl and Carol had been waiting at Merle's truck. The younger Dixon was watching Carl with those ever observant eyes, the ones that could see bull-shit coming a mile away. Carol on the other hand was just looking at the clouds in the sky, taking in the beautiful way the sky looked in the morning.

When they got closer to the pair, Carol had noticed that Carl's shirt was still wet, and his face was still red. The woman raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask anything, Merle had spoken up first.

"Took the little deputy here for some early training." Merle said giving his most convincing laugh and patted Carl hard on the back, making him stumble as he walked. "Worked the kid into the ground. Think I almost broke him."

Carol just rolled her eyes at Merle antics, knowing that the elder Dixon loved torturing the younger members of the group with intense training. Daryl on the other hand was fixing Carl was a blank look on his face, almost as if he was trying to read Carl's mind to see if what Merle was saying was the truth. The younger Dixon soon gave up though, and turned back to his brother. Merle and Daryl gave each other a nod, and Daryl made his way over to unlock the gate.

"You coming by next week Merle?" Carol asked.

"No can do little lady. " Merle said as he climbed into his truck. "O'l Miltie's asked my help in another one of his mad science experiments. So y'all might have to go awhile without seeing me around here.

"Oh, whatever shall we do without you." Carol said as she placed her hands over her eyes in mock sadness.

"Yer sayin that now, but y'all now my visits be the highlight of the week!"

Rolling her eyes at Merle, Carol walked over to the driver's side and gave the man a friendly hug. "Take care yourself Merle." She said as she pulled back.

"Always do little lady, always do." Merle did a quick k-turn so he was facing the gate, he then gave the signal for Daryl open the gate. As Merle started to drive his truck away, he fixed Carl with a nod and a wink. The boy just nodded a silent thanks to Merle, and the man drove off to the opened gate.

When Merle got close enough, Daryl said. "Make sure ya don't get ya crazy ass killed out there Merle." His voice was gruff, but Merle knew that's just how his baby brother showed that he was worried. Daryl was never a fan of Woodbury, even after the Governor's death, his brother still hated to even be around the town.

"Ain't nobody can kill Merle, but Merle. Remember baby brother?" Merle said with cocky smirk on his face, making Daryl give his own small smirk, knowing his brother was right. Tough son of bitch just refused to stay down.

"Yeah, yer right."

Merle nodded one last time at Daryl and said. "Later baby brother." And with that the older Dixon drove away from the prison.

After closing the gate, Daryl stood watching his brother's truck disappear from sight, and then slowly fade completely out of the view. There was an almost sad look on Daryl's face as he stood there, a look that would always seem to appear on his face whenever he'd have to be separated from his brother. The same face he had sported when he'd been too late to get Merle in Atlanta, when Merle had runaway from their home when he was a kid, and when Merle had been first been locked up.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Daryl turned around to see Carol's concerned face staring back at him.

"You okay?" She asked.

Daryl just shrugged his shoulders, he was still waiting for the time that Merle would just stay in his life for good, but he knew that day was still far away. Scars still needed to be healed. On both sides of the tracks.

Carol patted him on the shoulder affectingly one more time then said. "Lets go see how little ass-kicker doing." Carol knew an easier way of brightening Daryl's mood was to refer to Judith by the nickname Daryl had given her.

Smirking at the mention of the group's favorite baby, Daryl soon followed behind after Carol. "I ain't changing that diaper, last time it was like Rambo shit bricks in there." He said earning a laugh from Carol. The two started to walk away from the gate, but Carol then noticed that Carl was still near the gate.

The teenager was staring off into where Merle car disappeared as well. A confused look on his face. Carol then called out to him "Carl, you wanna come help feed Judith?" She asked.

Carl turned his head away from where he was staring and said. "Um, yeah sure. Lets go." And soon followed after the two adults.

* * *

Little ass-kicker herself was being held by Beth, gently sucking on the young woman's thumbs as she rocked the baby gently back and forth.

It was hard to believe that soon Judith would be turning one in the next coming months., I mean she was still so tiny, yet she had grown so much in the last couple of months. Judith then started to close her eyes, and Beth decided it was time for the baby to get some rest.

Placing Judith in her Little ass-kicker crib, Beth closed her eyes as she softly started to sing to the baby, knowing it always helped put Judith to sleep.

**Light reflects from your shadow**  
**It is more than I thought could exist**  
**You move through the room**  
**Like breathing was easy**  
**If someone believed me**

**They would be**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**They would be**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**They would be**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**They would be**  
**In love, love, love**

**And everyday**  
**I am learning about you**  
**The things that no one else sees**  
**And the end comes too soon**  
**Like dreaming of angels**

**And leaving without them**

**And leaving without them**

**Being**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**Being**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**Being**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**Being**  
**As in love, love, love**  
**Love, love, love**  
**Love, love, love**

**And with words unspoken**  
**A silent devotion**  
**I know you know what I mean**  
**And the end is unknown**  
**But I think I'm ready**  
**As long as you're with me**

Judith had now fallen into a deep sleep, or as Beth's father would call it, a rock sleep. Yet Beth continued to sing to the sleeping child, not even noticing that she wasn't alone anymore.

Standing some ways away from Beth, Stood Carl, Daryl, and Carol, all watching Beth sing to the baby, each having a different look on their face. Carol was smiling at the sweet scene, Daryl had a small smirk on his face, and Carl himself was just in a trance like state, staring at Beth as if she was the only person in the room.

**Being**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**Being**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**Being**  
**As in love with you as I am**  
**Being**  
**As in love, love, love**

Beth opened her eyes as she finished singing the song, gently caressing the face of the sleeping baby. It was only after a couple of moments that she had noticed her company. Blushing a little, Beth walked away from the baby and towards the three.

"That was beautiful Beth. "Carol said making the girl blush.

Brushing back a stray strand of hair Beth said. "It's just a little something I wrote."

"It sounded great." Carl said making Beth's blush go deeper.

The two teens started to stare at each other for some odd seconds, and it was Carol who had chosen that moment to give the teens some privacy.

"Um, Daryl, let's go see what Andrea's up to in the west wing, she mentioned something about needing some help earlier." Carol said trying to discreetly break away from the love-sick teenagers.

Raising an eyebrow, Daryl tried to remember if Andrea had said anything during breakfast about needing help in the west wing of the prison, but his mind was coming up blank. "Hell you talking about woman?" He said confusion clear in his voice.

Carol just rolled her eyes, and started to drag Daryl away from teens, who had now started to blush knowing what Carol was trying to do for them. _'Swear to Christ, man can spot a walker a mile away, but can't notice a hint of romance in the air._' The woman thought as she led Daryl away from the blushing teens.

They watched laughing lightly as Carol pulled redneck away, all the while Daryl was grumbling about how troublesome woman could be in this damn prison, and how he should have just hid in the bed of Merle's truck and gone with him.

As his laughter died down Carl said "Merle said he's gonna be gone for awhile, so we're free from training for now."

Throwing her hands in the air, Beth gave a jump for joy, and through her arms around Carl. "Thank god, I don't think I could have done anymore of that training!" She said in an over dramatic voice.

He started to blush at the feeling of Beth's warm breath tickling his ear as she spoke. "Yeah, but that means we're gonna have to deal with more of Daryl's woods survival training."

Beth's face paled, memories of sleeping in the cold woods, and having to hunt for her food flashed through her mind. They had spent a whole winter on the road sure, but that didn't mean she had ever wanted to go back to living like that again. In fact, Beth was sure that if life would ever go back to normal, she would burn anything that even resembled camping supplies.

"I wonder if I can get a sick note from my dad." She said weakly.

"Wouldn't work, your dads been turned to the dark side of the Dixons." Carl said trying to make his voice sound like Darth Vader, which made Beth giggle.

_'At least there's some kid left in him.'_ She thought as Carl continued to make her laugh. There were times that Beth swore that Carl was the older of the two, the way he acted when he killed walkers, or the way he interacted with the adults, he just always seemed older than how he looked. It was when he would act like a carefree person, that could make her smile no matter what, or when he would just sit and talk to her, when everyone else was lost in their own world and too busy to give her the time of day. That was the Carl she loved to be around.

Beth cut Carl off from anything else he was saying by kissing him softy on the lips, then reaching up she grabbed his sheriff's hat and placed it on her own head, before she pulled away with an ear to ear smile on her face.

"What was that for?" Carl asked face flushed from the kiss.

"Just being you." She replied as she pulled Carl into a strong hug. "Never forget who you are, ok Carl?" Beth's voice was barely above a whisper, but Carl heard her clearly.

For some odd reason Carl's mind began to think about the nightmare he had this morning. Remembering the sadistic voices that were mocking him in his dream, it took all the self-control he had in his body not to shudder at the memory. Wrapping his arms around Beth's back, Carl whispered "I won't." Hoping he was telling the truth.

Beth let her head rest on his shoulder. "Promise?"

"I promise." He whispered.

Then a voice even more demonic than the one from his nightmare said in his head. _"I wonder how many times a Grimes man has broken that promise."_

* * *

The way to Rick's original camp was anything but easy to get to, just getting to the interstate had taken hours, many hours spent either pushing abounded vehicles out-of-the-way, or killing walkers that stood in their way.

When they arrived at the quarry, neither said a word. For Rick, the quarry may as well been holy ground, and Michonne wasn't going to disrespect it. Every step he took was soft and careful, almost if he was afraid to wake the ones that were laid to their eternal rest in this land.

It wasn't until Rick had gotten to the graves, that she noticed that the man had now completely shut himself off from the world. At the moment now, it was just him and the dead. He walked forward to a grave that had a wooden cross sticking out of it, and placed one hand gently on-top of it, lowering his head as did it. In respect, Michonne had lowered her head as well.

Sometime passed before Rick would say a word, but when he did, his voice filled with sadness and regret. "Hey Amy, its been awhile."

Michonne's head had snapped back up at the mention of Amy's name._ 'Amy? Andrea's sister?'_ It was all coming together now. Andrea had told Michonne much about her sister Amy. She just never expected to ever be brought to her grave. A sad thing about this new world they lived in, even if you had time to bury your loved ones, the chances of being able to visit their graves were small. _'Very small.'_ Michonne thought sadly.

Michonne knew though that Rick wasn't talking to the grave, but Amy herself, or at least what Rick's mind told him was Amy. She had told him that she knew that he was seeing things, seeing people. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of. She had done it too in the past, sometimes she still did.

_Amy_ was sitting close to her own grave, dressed in the same cloths Rick had last seen her in, only without the blood, and thankfully, none of the bite marks.

"I'm sorry I didn't bring Andrea with me." Rick said with a sigh. "I know she deserves to be here more than me."

"Bring her next time, maybe we can all go fishing" _Amy_ said optimistically. "Oh, we can teach Carl how to fish! I'm sure he'll love eating something other than deer or canned food for once."

"I want you to know, your sister's safe." His voice had now taken a somewhat hopeful tone. "We lost her awhile back...lost her twice actually. We were on a farm, and we all got separated, but your sister's strong Amy, she was left alone to fight off an entire horde of walkers, and she survived."

_Amy_ was now beaming with pride as she said. "Knew my big sis was always a badass."

"We didn't see her again for a year, and when we did she was lost again. An evil man was trying to manipulate her, trying to turn her against her friends."

Michonne visibly tensed up as Rick mentioned the Governor, he hadn't said the lunatic's name, but who Rick was talking about was clear as day who the evil man was.

Rick's voice was now filled with venom as he spoke. "He tried to kill us, hell he tried to kill his own comrades, friends, the people he had been trusted to look after, even tried to kill Andrea in the end, but she didn't let him." The venom was now fading from Rick's voice. "Andrea saved a lot of innocent people from that mad man. You would have been proud of her Amy."

"I've always been proud of her Rick...I always will be." _Amy_ said softly to Rick. "She was always my hero growing up. I'm happy she's still is a hero."

"I'm sorry you had to die Amy...If there was anyway I could have saved you..." Rick felt his voice get caught in his own throat. "You were her world, and I'm sorry she had to lose you."

_Amy_ stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's time to let go Rick, at least of this memory."

Rick stood there for what felt like an eternity, keeping his eyes closed, saying his last respects to all the people he had lost that night so long ago. Hoping they had found peace in the afterlife.

When he finally opened his again, Amy was gone, but he still felt a hand on his shoulder.

The hand had belonged to Michonne, who still had her eyes closed, giving a silent farewell to the sister of a woman she considered to be her closest and most trusted friend.

The two stood at the graves for some time, not saying a word to the other, just providing a silent comfort to one another. It wasn't until the sun started to set, that Michonne told Rick they should hit the road again and try to find a place to camp for the night.

Rick gave one last glance back to the graves, to his friends, then walked away.

For the first time in months, Rick felt he could look back on that night without cringing.

* * *

Woodbury was always a beautiful sight during the night, the structures of the buildings being illuminated by the fires from the torches, the way the stars and moon shined down on the town, to bring a glowing light into the town that had almost fallen into darkness.

Yet, the one thing that Milton Mamet loved about Woodbury was the people, the sound of people living and laughing. A sound that for sometime he feared he'd never be able to experience again. Milton had promised himself after he the war that he'd never feel that fear again, and it was that promise that would bring him down the road to become the new leader of Woodbury, something he would have never done in his old life, or even his new one.

_'It had taken the end of the world, and almost being killed by deranged lunatic, for me to even find some self-worth in my life._' Milton thought to himself. _'I may as well have been turned into a bitter myself.'_

He had Merle to thank for freeing him from Phillip's influence, it had taken some harsh words and even a harsher beatings, but Milton realized that the Governor was just using him. He was using them all. In fact he had many people to thank for saving his life, and the lives of Woodbury, and everyone he had to thank were the collection of people who had made their home at the prison.

Life was better in Woodbury now that the Governor was gone. Even though they had stopped killing and stealing for their supplies, the residents at Woodbury still managed to make due, and secure enough of everything they needed to support the life style they had all been accustomed too.

The new office Milton had been given since becoming the leader of Woodbury, was also something he vastly enjoyed. It was much brighter than his old work space he had been use to working in. A Better view of the town, there would be nights were he would just look out from the office, looking at the community he had now been left in charge of.

The door to Milton's office kicked opened suddenly, but Milton didn't bother to jump, or even turn away from the window he was looking out from. He knew the only person who always would throw open the door to his office was Merle Dixon.

Said Elder Dixon strolled into Milton office, a cocky smirk plastered on his face. "Evening Miltie." Merle said using his old nickname for the glasses wearing man.

"Good evening, glad to see you made it back safely Merle. How did this week's training season go?" Milton asked turning away from the window.

"Oh, went real good." Merle said with an evil glint in his eye. "O'l Merle showed em candy asses what real training was like."

Milton raised an eyebrow at Merle. "I hope their still breathing Merle."

Raising his hands in mock deference Merle replied. "Ay man, I'm only training em, ain't like I'm torturing anybody."

"If the way you train those poor souls is anything like what you had put me through, then I'm sure torture, is me describing it lightly." Milton said with a dry look on his face.

"Ay man, yer training wasn't that bad."

"You called it training, I called it attempted murder on a daily basis." Milton shot back.

Merle just shrugged his shoulders. "Yer just being dramatic."

"You lit my bed on fire."

"Ya need to learn how to put out a fire."

"I _was_ still in it!"

"You needed to learn to put out a fire fast" Merle was trying not to chuckle at the Memory of Milton yelling and screaming that he was on fire. _'Where was a camera when yer need it?' _Merle thought to himself.

Milton then yelled "You shot me!"

"It was a flesh wound!"

Milton now had his face in his palm, frustrated at the horrific things Merle had put him through when he himself had gone through the redneck's training. "And when you had left the walker in my room then locked the door?"

"Ay its teeth and Arms were cut off for yer!" Merle said as he lost the battle to keep his laughter in. He walked over to Milton and patted the man roughly. "Besides, yer had to pop yer walker killing cherry sum time ay"

"You're insane." Milton sighed as he shrugged off Merle's hand from his shoulder.

"So whats this new experiment you needed my help for?" Merle asked trying to get off the topic before he gave Milton a stress attack.

"Just some more chemical test on some bitters, nothing major." Milton had been trying to see what type of chemical weapons could affect the dead, but not the living, So far nothing had come from the experiments. Most of the subjects had been put down, and now he needed Merle help to go catch some new ones.

Over the next half hour, Milton catched Merle up on some of the things the elder Dixon had missed while he had stayed at the prison, and what Milton needed from him in his experiments. After the that, Milton had just sat back and let Merle tell him all about then how the training had went at the prison for a while.

After some time, Merle stood up, yawning while he did so. "Well, if we going hunting for bitters, I'ma go get me sum sleep." Merle said as he started to show himself out. "Later Miltie."

"Goodnight, Merle" Milton said back as he turned to look back out the window. He never thought he would of ever been a leader of anything in his life, but he was glad he was wrong.

* * *

It wasn't until Merle had gotten back to his apartment, that he started to think about how officer friendly's kid had acted this morning. He had found the kid asleep in the guard tower, having what Merle would call, a real fucked up nightmare. The kid kept crying, saying he was sorry for something and begging for something to stop.

Now, Merle was now stranger to nightmares, he had his fair share when he was younger, hell sometimes a few would sneak into his head at times. When he had started living with Daryl again, he took notice that his little brother suffered from nightmares too, pretty bad ones. Merle always knew though that the nightmares had come from his father. _'Wasn't good enough the bastard left his scars on his body, fucking bastard had to fuck up his mind too'_ He thought bitterly.

For the life of him, Merle couldn't figure out what officer friendly's kid could be dreaming about. It wasn't that the kid didn't have reasons to have nightmares, even he knew that the kid had to kill his mom. That'd cause anyone to be messed up in the head. The kid was also living in a world where the dead came back to try to take a bite out of ya, he had been forced to become a child soldier, and just recently his daddy damn done lost his marbles and had left with the last samurai to find em.

_'Shit, that kid will be lucky if his scrawny ass doesn't turn into a serial killer.'_

He needed a drink. Merle went into the kitchen and fetched himself a bottle of beer, then another, and then another. After about three more beers Merle was hammered, hell he couldn't even stand up right, yet unfortunately, he still had Carl on his mind.

_'Maybe I'll take the little deputy out to Woodbury one day, might do the kid good to be away from the prison.'_ Merle started to drunkenly laugh to himself at the thought. A year ago, he had wished nothing but ill will on Officer friendly and his whole family, and now, he was thinking on taking his kid on a weekend gateway to Woodbury._ 'And I though kids had it bad before the world ended...'_

* * *

The cell block was abounded, no one bothered to ever visit, at least not at this time of the night. Most of the lights were turned off, only one cell was illuminated in darkness, and that was the one that Daryl Dixon was in. Sitting on an old bed, crossbow in lap, in a dirty mess of room. There were books scattered all over the floor, a pile of old clothes on most of the bed, and various types of knives on the ground.

"Merle always did keep any room he owned a mess." Daryl said to himself as he looked around the room.

Daryl had snuck away from the rest of the group shortly after dinner, he wanted to have so time alone to himself, and Merle's old cell was the perfect place. Whenever Merle had come to stay at the prison, he'd always chose the cell he stayed at in his first days after he had came back to the prison with Daryl. It was the same cell block Rick had given to Oscar and Axel.

Ever since Rick had left him in charge, it was getting harder and harder to get some damn time to himself. Being a loner wasn't as easy when you're left in charge of a group of people after the end of the world. The only alone time he had been able to get was when he'd go hunting for food, and that's only when he would purposely stay out in the woods all day.

_'How the hell you put up with this shit Rick?'_ The redneck thought to himself.

Daryl wondered what Rick was doing now, if he was doing better, and if so, when was he coming back? Everyone usaley thought the same thing, you couldn't go a day in the prison without thinking about what was going on with their original leader.

Something that had also been on his mind most of the day, was his brother and Carl. He had sensed something had been wrong with the kid all day, the only person the kid had even gone out of his way to interact with was Beth. Which really wasn't new, but he felt the kid was hiding something from all of them. Whatever was going on with the kid, Merle knew, Daryl just knew Merle knew. His brother was always good at picking up how people really felt, that why he was so good at pissing people off, if you didn't know how to hide your feelings, than Merle would always find a way to get read ya like a fuckin book.

Light footsteps started to echo through out the cell block, alerted Daryl that he wasn't alone anymore, and soon enough he saw Andrea stroll into view, lantern in hand, trying to shine some light in into the dark cell block.

She walked into the cell, and placed the lantern on the ground, then seated herself next to him. "So this is where you've been hiding. Little dark don't you think." She said as she alluded to the darkness surrounding them.

"Hn." Daryl grunted out as he laid his head back against the cold metal wall near the bed. "Like the darkness, keeps the others out."

Andrea just smiled at Daryl, then laid her head back as well, making them touch shoulder to shoulder. Daryl had tensed up a little at the sudden contact, but had made no motion to move.

A couple of minutes passed in silence before Andrea started to talk again. "We're thankful you know." Daryl picked his head up and started at her as she spoke. "For leading while Rick was gone, you didn't have to do it."

Turning his head to the wall, which had become the most interesting thing in the world at the moment, he said. "It wasn't anything huge. Any of y'all could lead."

"Not like you." Andrea placed her hand on his. "You've always done your best to help out the group, even when it was never asked of you."

Daryl turned his head back to Andrea, the woman was staring at him dead in the eyes. "Ain't nothing." He mumbled staring back into hers.

The edges of Andrea's lips turned up into a smile. "I just wanted to say that." She said taking her hand off his. "My watch is next, I better get going."

Daryl turned back to fiddling with his crossbow, and muttered some Andrea's assumed was a Goodnight.

Taking advantage of the fact that Daryl was off guard, Andrea bent over and pecked him on the cheek. Then picked up her lantern, and walked always. Before she got fully outside of the cell block she said. "Night robin hood, don't stay out here to long." She didn't wait for a reply, doubted she'd even get one, but she didn't need one.

For some reason, Daryl felt that whatever he had been thinking of, had now taken a back seat to whatever the hell had just happened. _'Woman be damn crazy.'_ Daryl thought as he looked back to where Andrea had just been sitting. Nevertheless, Daryl couldn't stop the grin that had snuck its way on his face.

* * *

The tombs were pitch black, the only light that came from the empty halls was that of Carl's flash light. He had left his cell quietly and was making his way to a spot he knew all too well. He was going to visit where his mother died.

It wasn't a place he liked to ever be around, but on the days were he'd be troubled by nightmares, the young teenager would always find himself being drawn to the room. Like it'd call to him through out the prison, and wouldn't stop till it had brought the him to where he had killed his mother.

The boiler room was completely cleaned of any remnants of the terrible event though, his father had cleaned it up shortly after he gotten rid of all the walkers that had been in the there.. It had taken most of the day though, Rick father had refused help from anyone. Feeling that if his own son can put down his mother before she turned into a walker, the least he could do was clean up the mess after.

Carl sat on the cold floor, and reached into his pocket, pulling out something that he usually would never even look at if his father was still in the prison.

It was a simple gold necklace of the number 22. What made it not so simple was that it was Shane's necklace. His dad had given it to him shortly after Shane's _death_. Saying Shane would have wanted him to have it, but after he had found out that the man who pretty much his uncle, had tried to kill his father, Carl rarely ever looked at it.

Ever since his nightmare this morning though, Carl couldn't help but think of the man. It was something he was ashamed to admit, but he missed Shane. Carl sometimes wondered if that since Shane had started to hate his dad, did that mean he hated him as well?

Shane was the only adult in his whole life that never treated him like a kid, always tried to involve him in everything. There were so many times that when his parents would be fighting, Shane would just show up out of the blue and rescue him from having to be around all that. He _was_ his best friend! It wasn't until the world went to shit that Carl had noticed Shane had started to change. But he was still his Shane, even when he had come to him saying he felt guilty about causing Dale's death. Shane still never looked at him any differently.

Carl wasn't as ignorant as he was back in the early days of the outbreak. Figuring out the truth of what had happened between his father, Shane, and his mother wasn't that hard after you stopped looking at the world through kid glasses. The affair, the attempt on his dad's life, and all the lies and killings was right in the open, waiting for Carl to find it. Shane had lost himself, and Carl knew that there wasn't anything he could have done to save his once role model.

Even so, it was times like tonight, when Carl was afraid to sleep, afraid of the nightmares that were awaiting him, the second he closed his eyes. He wished Shane was here, someone to talk to that Carl didn't have to fear would look at him differently after.

_**'As long as I'm around you, nothing gonna happen to you, Carl.'**_ Shane's words echoed in his head again.

Carl gripped the 22 shaped necklace until his knuckles to turned white. "You always were a good lair, weren't you Shane?"

* * *

**Well, there's chapter two. Most of the elements of this chapter came from last night's epic episode of the walking dead. The Michonne and Rick scenes, they just had blown me away, same as with the Carl and Michonne scenes. It helps my idea that Michonne would be the perfect person to go with Rick, if the man would ever leave the prison on a soul-searching journey. While I think they'd go good together as a couple, I'm not gonna push anything. The two are very damaged people at the moment, and both need to do some healing before their even ready to think about anything Romantic. **

**As for Daryl, I just felt like I ignored him last chapter a little bit, and I wanted to show how he's dealing with being the leader. And about Andrea kissing him on the cheek? It was just a thank for, nothing to look into too deeply...for now. Another thing he's been going through is the fact that his brother is again not in his life all the time, and while its no where near as bad as it was in the other seasons, it's still irks Darryl to know his brother isn't in his life as much as he should be. I mean if Merle does survive the season 3, I'm pretty sure there is still some healing to do between him and the others, something that takes a lot of time and space for. **

**I'm also trying to make Merle more of a Anti-Hero in this story. To me Merle always reminded me of Vegeta, a popular character from the old anime Dragon ball Z. The two are both men who had been blinded by pride, and their own misguided upbringing, both have father issues, and both had started out as opposing the hero of the story. Yet as time went on, Vegeta would find himself again and again, helping out the heroes. It went the way until finally, Vegeta had just joined the Heroes. for this story, that's what I'm trying to do to Merle, to show that Merle had chosen to move past his pride. **

**Carl however, I'm trying to show the effects that the events of the show are having on him. You could say he's suffering from late PTSD, and like all young people who go through it, he's not sure about how to handle it, or even who to go to. The fear of being looked at as weak is messing with his judgment, and so now he's just trying to hide it. **

**Also, the song Beth had sung was Angels by The XX. I just used the song, because I felt it worked with Beth's character. **

**Anyway, That's all for now. Review or flame, I take all feedback. **

_~ Solareon._


	3. Fear the hunters Part 1

**This is a re-upload version of chapter three, I decided to go back and revise it because it was a pretty crappy update, I thought it was a little rushed, and it had been pointed out that there had been some mistakes in it, so I had to fix that as well, and I also wanted to add some things that inspired me from the last new episode "Arrow on the doorstep" **

**Also thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story so far, ya guys rock!**

**So here's the next chapter.**

* * *

**Fear the hunters: Part 1**

The prison had been quiet, not that it was ever loud, but today it was quieter than most days. Many members of the group had left the prison, each having their own personal task they wanted to complete.

Glenn and Maggie had left on a supply run, since winter was moving in fast, the two had volunteered to retrieve warmer clothes for the group. Glenn had said they'd probably be gone for most of the day, saying that Maggie and him would have to drive out farther than they normally would because local stores were running low on supplies to scavenge from.

Andrea and Carol were visiting Woodbury, Andrea because she had become a somewhat ambassador between the two groups of survivors, and Carol because she loved playing with the children of the town. She was also going to check in on Merle, though she'd never admit it to the man if asked.

So, the only ones left at the prison had been Daryl, Hershel, Tyreese, Sasha, Beth and Carl, but Daryl himself had left to go hunting, or as Carl suspected, to get some time away from the group before he went crazy. Carl understood that Daryl needed his space sometimes, the man was use to being the lone wolf of the group, and being in a leader postion had made the loner on edge most of the time. A hunting trip away would do him some good.

Carl was sitting inside his sister's nursery/room/cell, cleaning his Beretta 92FS. As he was cleaning the gun, Carl's gaze wandered to a shelf that sat across from his sister's crib, the shelf was filled with little trinkets, and items that everyone had given to decorate the child's room. The two things that stuck out the most in the room was a photo of the Grimes family when Carl had been younger, and a rainbow-striped cat sculpture. Michonne was to thank for his sister having both items in her _room_.

A small smirk crept its way on Carl's face as he remembered all the things that Michonne had done for him, hell for everyone in the group! The ones that really benefited from the swords-woman's prescience though had indeed been the Grimes men. Michonne had become something of a mother figure to him, something he had tried to fight at first, but the woman had managed to become close with Carl, and even close with his father.

There was a connection between the Grimes family and Michonne, something that contiued to bring them together, She understood them, and they understood her. It was this understanding that made them care about each other, and fight for each other. When Rick had left the prison, Michonne had been the only one that he had been allowed to accompany him, not even Carl was able to follow his own father on his journey. Carl at first was hurt a little by that, but he also felt pride that his father looked at him as more of a capable survivor, but he was also still a little bitter that he hadn't been allowed to go with the his dad and Michonne. The only two people in the prison that understood him completely had left him...again.

Carl stood up from cleaning his gun, walked over to the shelf and picked up the rainbow-striped cat, then walked to his sister's crib to show off the animal sculpture.

"Your aunty Michonne got this for you" Carl said gesturing to the cat. "She said it was just too damn gorgeous not to give to you."

Judith starting giggling as she tried her best to grab the Cat from Carl, only for him to yank it away at the last second, it wasn't until the sixth try of trying to grab it, that Carl finally let her have the cat. He watched as his sister played with it, she didn't try to smash it around like most babies her age would , instead she just smiled as she held it, even petting it like it was a real cat. Looking back up at Carl, Judith gave her older brother a big smile, something that was just adorable coming from her little face.

He grabbed the Cat from her, and put it back on the shelf, then he kissed his baby sister on the forehead and started to make his way out of her room.

"Carl." A voice called from behind him.

Carl turned around and saw Judith standing up in her crib, staring at him, and smiling, then she called out again to him "Carl!" Her voice was soft, and his name had sounded more like Cawl, than Carl coming from her, but he was sure she just said his name.

Walking slowly towards Judith's crib, Carl said "You...you said my name." He knew sooner or later she'd start to talk, but he wouldn't have thought his name would be her first word. "You said my name." He whispered again.

He hung his head low once he got close to the crib, and Judith held out her arms, trying to tell him she wanted him to pick him up. Carl did so and again his sister said "Carl." as she snuggled closer to him.

Carl sat on the ground as his sister started to fall asleep in his arms, and as he looked at his sister he couldn't stop his eyes from getting watery.

"I killed your mom." Carl whispered to his sleeping sister. "I killed your mom...and...and my name is your first word."

Instantly Carl thought about all the nightmares that had plaugd his dreams for the last week, he had tried his best to block them out, but it seemed as more time went on, the littlest of things would just sent him off. He'd hear voices of Shane or his mom, only their voices always sounded distorted, or far more colder than he remembered. He needed to leave now.

Carl put his sister back in her crib and walked out of the cell, and went to make his exit away from the cell block. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he needed to get away from his sister, the guilt he felt by hearing her say his name was too much.

As he continued to walk through the prison in a daze, he didn't even notice Beth, and he didn't even notice that he had walked past her without even offering a glance her way. Beth had even called out to him, but he didn't hear gear. All he could think about was that Judith's first words should have been Mommy or Daddy, not a parent killers name. He felt more guilty than he had felt in months.

Beth stopped calling out to Carl once it was clear he wasn't even listening, there was a lost look in his eyes, a look she's been seeing more and more on his face as day went on. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she knew she had seen Rick look the same way when he had still been with them, and that worried her.

For the last week something had seemed off about Carl, the others didn't notice it, but she did, she had spent more than enough time with him, so it was easy for her to spot a change in the way he was acting. It started off as a small change, sometimes he'd just space out, nothing major, but now, whenever he was sure no one was looking, he'd have a lost, almost tortured look on his face. Beth had also noticed that he had taken to doing longer shifts at night in the guard tower, or disappearing from his cell during when he thought everyone had gone to sleep. He was also always up before everyone, yet it seemed he'd go to sleep after everyone as well.

_'Maybe daddy can help'_ Beth thought. Her father was always good with talking to Rick, maybe he'd have the same effect on the younger Grimes man.

* * *

Dixon men had many rules on how to live life, rules that even when the dead were walking the earth, you still didn't break. One of the most important rules was to never, ever, make loud noises when a Dixon had a hangover.

Said rule was being broken by loud talking and laughing, and other sounds Merle Dixon couldn't really identify, coming from outside the door to his apartment. Merle rolled off of his bed, crashing to the ground with a thump. Cursing to himself, Merle looked out at the light shining through his window, and held his hand up to shield his eyes from the light.

"I ain't drinking rum and whiskey at the same time ever again." Merle grumbled as the light shinning in made his head his eyes made the pounding inhis head even worse, that and whatever god forsaken, unholy, demon span noise was coming from outside his apartment wasn't helping either.

"Merle!" A familiar voice said in a singing voice. "Get your lazy butt out of there!"

Merle knew that voice, he knew who was on the other side of that door, but instead he just continued to lay on the floor. "Yer just fuckin wit me now, ain't ya god?" The redneck said looking to his ceiling.

The voice got even louder. "Merle! I can wait here all day!" The voice sang.

Merle stood up from the floor, then staggering towards the door, Merle threw it open to be greeted by Carol, who had a giant grin on her face, and many of the children of Woodbury at her feet also smiling.

_'Should of jus let em bitters kill me in Atlanta'_ Merle thought darkly as he rested his head on the door frame.

Carol's smiled widened as she took in Merle's unkempt appearance and clear hangover, Andrea and her had arrived an hour ago, and had heard from Milton that Merle had gone off on a little bender after Milton had almost blown Merle up in an experiment. Now she understood he needed to relax, they all had their way of coping with a stressful day in this world, but she just couldn't resist the chance to torture Merle Dixon when he was suffering from a hangover.

"We didn't wake you did we?" She said trying to make an innocent face, but ending making a face that would make the Cheshire cat proud.

Merle rubbed his blood-shot eyes, and muttered. "Maybe I should have just put a chainsaw on my stump, and not no fuckin knife."

The kids all laughed at Merle's cursing, and so did Carol, but that didn't stop her from sending a glare his way for using such words in front of kids.

She turned around, and loudly clapped her hands together, which in turn made Merle groan and the kids laugh harder, which made him groan even louder. "Why don't you all run along, I'm gonna go talk to Mr. Dixon, ok?"

The kids all nodded their heads and took off running, most likely to go find Andrea to play with. Though she had her doubts on how good that would work out. Unlike Carol, Andrea wasn't the best with kids. In fact she had insisted Carol come with her just so she wouldn't have to deal with them.

Carol walked into Merle's apartment, not even waiting for him to invite her in, something she never did, since he never asked to come into any of the group's _rooms_ when he was at the prison. She sat herself in one of his chairs and waited for him to follow. Merle trailed behind her, throwing some curses under his breath about women from the prison being crazy, and that him and Daryl should have just stayed in the woods with all the walkers. His muttering made Carol laugh inside, because it sounded so familiar to how Daryl would mutter under his breath when he was frustrated with anyone.

Merle sat himself in a chair across from her and put his head in his hand and rubbed his temples, trying to sooth his headache. "So, what brings yer here so damn early in the morning to bother an ill man?" He asked Carol?

"Mere, it's noon, and your it's only a hangover, you're not ill."

"Believe me, for a Dixon, it's an illness."

Rolling her eyes at Merle, she tried to change the subject "I came with Andrea for a visit, I thought I'd see what was going on with you since Andrea had things to do.

Merle raised an eyebrow. "And what things did blondie have to do?"

"She's speaking with Milton. Andrea wanted to see if she could get something of a gathering to happen between our two camps. Something to show both sides are friendly with each other now." Carol hoped something could be worked out, she knew both camps were now at peace, but besides Andrea, Sasha, Tyreese and herself, no one from the prison would visit Woodbury, and only Merle would get to visit the prison from Woodbury.

Merle just shrugged his shoulders at Carol, he wasn't the best when it came to rebuilding relationships, shit, it had taken him months just to make peace with Glenn and Maggie, and that took saving the little bo peep's life.

"I'm just a soldier, ain't no peace ambassador." Merle placed a hand on his prosthetic arm as he spoke. "Nothing more, nothing less. I'll leave the rest to you guys...I've done enough to know I ain't nothing for politics."

"Well Merle, that's pretty mature and big of you to say." Carol was impressed with the maturity of Merle's words, and it showed in her face.

"Yeah women always said I was a big guy." Merle said with a smug look on his face."

Carol palmed her forehead. "And there goes any respect I had for you all over again." Carol was now shaking her head. "You were doing so good too!"

Merle laughed and Carol just shook her head for a bit. It's not like she expected more from Merle.

Merle stopped laughing, he started to think about something he was meaning to ask one of his brother's group once he got the chance, and Carol seemed like the best person to ask about the topic. "Ay, ya think I can borrow officer friendly's kid one of these days?

Carol's gave a confused look at Merle. "Um, I don't see the problem in that, but why?"

Merle just shrugged his shoulders again. "Thought it would do the little deputy some good to get some time away from the prison is all."

_'He had been acting odd for the last couple of days..._' Carol thought to herself._ 'Maybe some time away from there would be good for him.' _ She then said "I'll ask him if he wants to go, and if he says yes, we'll be stay for a couple of days."

"_We_?" Merle asked. Last time he checked, he only invited officer friendly's kid, he wasn't planning on making his apartment a damn hangout for the whole damn group.

Carol knew what Merle was thinking and said "Not everyone, just me and Carl." Merle cocked his head sideways in confusion, but she continued talking "I'm coming with him to make sure you don't get the poor boy into any trouble."

Snorting Merle said. "Oh, yer thinking too much. Ain't like I'mma get the kid drunk" he had thinking the kid could use his first drink, but he wasn't gonna say that out loud.

"Regardless, I'll come just to check in on him." Then Carol let a smile grow on her face. "Besides, I love seeing the children here, they're so cute with how they always want me to play with them."

Merle was going to protest a little more, but let anything he was going to say go. Carol had a look of pure happiness on her face as she thought about being able to spend sometime with the children of Woodbury. She loved them, and they loved her, and since some of them were orphan, they loved spending time with any adult who would show them attention. It wasn't no secret that even after two years, Carol still missed Sophia, and Merle didn't blame her. He didn't understand it too well though, since he never really had a good mother, and he never became a parent himself, but he knew that the woman loved her daughter more than life itself, and he wasn't going to deny her the chance to feel that love again.

"Alright, y'all both can stay." He said grumbling as he rose to his feet.

"Thank you Merle." Carol said gratefully raising to her feet as well."

For the third time Merle just shrugged. "Ain't nothing to it." Then he picked up a nearby towel and started walking towards the bathroom. "Show yer self out, Imma go take a shower." Merle said over his shoulder as he entered the bathroom. "I'll catch up later." Then he closed the door.

Carol smiled at Merle's retreating form, and turned around to show herself out. She was happy that she could spend her own time away from the prison and at Woodbury, she loved her group, but after visiting Woodbury for many months, it was easy to see what the appeal was that Andrea had talked about when she had first came to the prison during the war.

* * *

"Thats crazy." Rick said running a hand through his dirty, black hair. "And I know crazy, and believe me that sounds crazy ."

A man with a hat on his head, and a mechanic jumpsuit, and a thick beard just gave Rick a deadpan expressionless face, then he said. "You're talking to a dead guy, who died, because a reanimated corpse bit him in the stomach."

Rick just sighed at the jumpsuit wearing man. "Yeah, well that's crazy too, but c'mon Jim, what you said was pretty crazy too."

Jim raised his hands in defense. "All I said was that I saw the future. Is it so hard to believe? After everything you've been though, is it so hard to believe?"

"As hard as Daryl's Chupacabra." Rick countered.

Jim then said. "You see dead people, I saw the future."

"Never said I was completely sane myself." Rick Replied with a smirk on his face.

Michonne was sitting behind the wheel of the car, watching as Rick argued with whoever he was arguing with. This was the second time Rick was talking with someone who she couldn't see, she had started to refer to them just as ghosts, even though she knew they were all in Rick's head.

It had all started when their car started smoking from under the hood, and Rick had asked her to pull over so he could try to see what the problem was. After a couple of minutes of waiting inside the car though, she noticed that he was speaking to _someone_, and she heard him calling whoever he was talking to Jim. So, now Michonne was just waiting for him to wrap his conversation up with the ghost man.

Five minutes past as she continued to hear Rick give banter back and forth with the man she couldn't hear nor see, then she finally heard Rick wrapping up his conversation.

"Guess this is where we part ways again." Jim said as he leaned on the car. "You think you good now?"

Rick looked at Jim for a while, then he nodded. "Yeah, time to move on from this...you were a good man Jim. You were missed, still are.

The ghost man nodded at Rick. "Hope you find what you're looking for Rick." Jim said, then he vanished.

"I hope so too." Rick said as he closed the hood of the car. He made his way back into the car, and Motioned for Michonne to try starting the car again.

Michonne started the engine up again, and was surprised when no smoke came from under the hood. "Guess I picked up some things from Jim." She heard Rick say from besides her.

Michonne only fixed Rick with a small smile, something she only ever did for members of the Grimes family. "Let's be on our way then."

The pair had taken their time leaving the quarry, Rick had wanted to pay equal amounts of time paying his respects to everyone grave there, even if he didn't know them all, they were still people, and deserved nothing less than his respect.

It had taken Rick to return to where nothing had changed, just to see how much he had changed since everything began, and in some ways the change did sicken him, Rick knew he had become more cold in the ways he lived his life, but he knew that there was still some humanity left in him. There was the love he felt for his children and his group and as long as he had them, he could deal with all the troubles from his past.

As the duo continued to drive, he noticed that something seemed to be on Michonne's mind, Rick knew it, he had spent enough time with her over the last couple of motnhs to know when something was bothering her. He knew that she'd wanted to say though, Michonne would always speak her mind sooner or later, it was one of things he admired about her.

After driving in complete silence for some time, it was Michonne finally spoke up. "I was afraid of losing my humanity you know." She began. "Even when I was traveling with Andrea...I felt empty, but she helped me feel less empty in a way, that and I was finally around another living person, it helped me.

Rick made sure to pay attention to every word Michonne said, not once turning his attention away from her.

"When the governor found us...I was afraid, I knew from the second he brought us to Woodbury that I didn't belong there." Michonne gave a sad smile as she remembered Woodbury. "It was just so perfect, so like the old world...I just couldn't grasp that it was real. It had to of been a lie."

Rick hadn't said a word, he knew she wanted him to just listen, and not to talk, at least not yet.

Michonne continued "When I found out it was all bull-shit, I was relived, relived that it was all a lie. I should of been crushed, but I wasn't...and I never wanted to admit why I needed it to be lie."

Rick knew that this was his time to speak. "Why didn't you want to admit you needed it to be a lie?" Rick asked the Swords-woman.

She give a choked out laugh. "I never wanted to admit that I needed it to be a lie, because I just couldn't live in the real world anymore." Michonne now needed to pull over, her eyes were getting watery and the last thing she needed was to crash. She pulled over to the side of the road, and just looked out into the endless highway.

"When Andrea chose to stay and I left, I was like I had nothing all over again, then the governor sent his dogs out to kill me." Michonne said Governor with so much venom that you could feel all the hatred that she felt for the now departed man. A hatred that would always burn inside her, no matter how many years would pass, she'd hold on to her hatred of tha man till the day she died.

"I was grateful too in a sick way, because he gave me a new purpose, I knew that no matter what, I couldn't continue to walk this sinful, godforsaken earth until he was dead. Unmoral survivalist. That's what he was, and I knew he'd turn that town into the monster that he was."

His mind instantly went to Shane when she said Survivalist. Would Shane have turned out like the Governor? No, he erased the idea just as quickly as he thought it. Shane was many things, and Rick would be lying if he said he still didn't hate many things about his old fallen best friend, but Shane did love Carl, and as much as he hated to admit it, Shane did care for Lori, and in his own messed up way, Rick knew that Shane still thought of him as his brother, but he didn't want to think about the past now, Michonne was the one who needed his attention at the moment.

"Then I met you and your group" Michonne's gaze was now on Rick, looking directly into his blue eyes as she spoke. "I didn't trust you at first, any of you. Thought maybe I had wondered out of the fire, and into the oven. I was wrong though, I realized the second I saw how you all reacted when you found out Carol was alive, or when she looked at Judith for the first time. You were good people."

Rick smiled at the memory, it was the one of the few good things that had come from that horrible time, finding Carol alive. It was a miracle.

Michonne's face had gone back to being stoic, all traces of her sad smile now gone. "I went with you all that night with only one goal in mind, to kill that bastard and nothing else." She let out a sigh. "I failed, we both know that, but after I got back to the prison I realized why I was so invested in killing that man." The sad smile had found its way back onto Michonne's. "It was because there was nothing in my life anymore worth living for, Andrea was gone, I couldn't hear my boyfriend talking to me, not even in my sleep. I needed a purpose and killing that man became one."

Rick knew there was a deeper meaning to why a stranger would side with them in the war the Governor. At full strength, Michonne had the highest chances of survival out of everyone in the group, the only ones who could match her would be Daryl and Merle. Rick would have counted himself, but with his mental state the way it was, and how blinded by rage and grief he had been, he didn't even count himself in their league at the time. Michonne on the other hand was able to survive on her own, why she wanted to help them at the prison had always to a mystery to the other members of the group. Only the wiser members had figured it out the real reason, yet they never said a word of it to anyone of the others.

"Then something changed." Michonne's voice was soft as she spoke. "You and your people showed me there was more out there than just death. Your boy, there was still hope in his eyes, it was dim, but it was still there. He still loved you, his mother, his sister." She then chuckled to herself. "I saw it when his stubborn ass almost got himself eaten by walkers, just because he wanted a picture of his family to show Judith."

Rick smiled at the memory, when Carl had told him that Michonne had gotten that picture for them, he couldn't hide the gratitude he felt for her. It was the last picture he had of Lori, and thanks to her, Judith would know what her mother looked like, and Carl would never forget her face.

"Thank you for that." Rick said to her and she smiled at his words.

"Thank you too."

"For what?"

"You know why."

Rick laughed a little looking away from the woman, and Michonne just smiled, then she restarted the car, and got back onto the road.

He knew what she was thanking him for, it was because he hadn't given her up to the Governor when he offered him a way out of having to go to war. It was a lie, they both knew it, the man was a sociopath and all he wanted was bloodshed. Nevertheless, even if Rick had his doubts, he hadn't traded her life for the group's _safety. _She was part of the group, she was one of them. That made her priceless.

As the car made its way down the interstate, the same thought crossed both Rick and Michonne's mind; That maybe this journey could help the both of them out.

* * *

It taken almost four hours of searching, but Glenn and Maggie had finally found the jackpot of stores. It had taken so long to get anywhere, they had to either move cars out of their way or kill walkers, and with two only two people, it had taken longer than they had thought. All in all, this scavenger mission was lasting longer than it should have, yet it was all worth it when they had found a department store that was low on walkers, and high of cloths.

Glenn had finished finding clothes for the men of the prison, and he was just browsing through the store, mostly keeping an eye for walkers. Not much else to do till Maggie got done with looking for cloths for the woman.

Soon enough, Maggie had appeared out of the woman's section, she had duffel bags filled with clothes hanging on both of her shoulders. "Well, we're stocked up." She said as patting the bags.

"Alright, let's go." Glenn said grabbing his own duffel bags.

"Oh, and Glenn."

"Yeah?"

"I got something special to show you later" Maggie said with a seductive smile on her face.

Glenn's ears instantly heated up. "Lets go even faster!" He yelled dramatically, causing Maggie to laugh.

"Hold you're horses tiger, we still need to find something for the baby." Maggie said as she ruffled his hair. "C'mon, I think I saw some supplies in storage we can swipe."

Glenn pouted as he followed Maggie to the storage room. _'She loves working me up, than always making me wait!_' He thought frustrated.

The two walked to the storage room, Glenn was barely paying attention, trying to guess what Maggie was going to wear for him once they got some alone time. _'Maybe she found a zelda costume! Please god, please!'_

He was so distracted that he didn't even notice that they had already reached the storage room, and Maggie had stopped dead in her tracks, causing Glenn to bump into her. He snapped back into attention and noticed that Maggie was looking into the storage room with a horrified look on her face.

"Hey whats wr-" Glenn cut his own words off as he saw what Maggie was staring at.

The storage room was a covered in mutilated bodies, it was more of a slaughter room than storage. Blood was splattered on every wall, yet that wasn't what truly caused the horrified looks on the young adults face. No, what had caused their disturbed stares was the fact that some of the bodies hadn't been bitten that they could see. It actually looked like they had all been beaten to death,while the other bodies had been missing most of their limbs. It also looked like someone had tried to cook the bodies as well, something that made Glenn and Maggie go pale in the face.

Glenn walked forward a little, and he could clearly see that many of the corpses had their heads caved in, almost like they had been beaten to death by a baseball bat. "Who the hell would do this?" He asked himself. The heads also had what looked like pieces wire stuck to their head. "What the fuck happened here?"

As Glenn continued to inspect the bodies, he heard Maggie call out to him to get his attention, then she pointed to the wall ahead of the corpses.

Turning to where his girlfriend was pointing, Glenn's eyes winded in horror, confusion and disgust.

On the back wall of the storage room was a message written in blood, and what looked like human bones.

**'Saviors 1 Hunters 0'**

* * *

**Now we enter in the first real ark for this fic.**

**I was happy I got to finally got to give Glenn and Maggie a scene, I felt like I was ignoring them. I'll have more of them for the next chapter.**

**Carl's going through a little heroic blue screen now, he's finding ways to blame himself a lot for whats happened in the past, something he's been doing a lot, at least if these newest episodes are anything to judge from. **

**If I made Michonne a little OOC, I apologize, but in this fic, months have passed since she met Rick, and ever since I watched the last episode Clear, I had an idea that they would often talk to the other on the deeper scale. So this was Michonne's first opening up talk.**

**I'll make sure to update soon, till next time.**

_**~Solareon**_


	4. Fear the Hunters part 2

**Fear the Hunters part 2**

A cold breeze blew across the prison, the brown leaves that littered the ground near the woods, were now gliding along with wind, and finding their new home all over the yard of the prison. The green grass of the yard, was now slowly turning to brown from fall leaves, and the dying grass.

Carl dug his hands deep into his pockets as the wind continued to blow, trying to hide them from the chill breeze blowing against his body. He couldn't wait till Maggie and Glenn came back with some warmer cloths to wear, the cloths he had now were nothing against the dropping temperature.

The teenager walked against the increasing winds, crunching his boots against the fallen leaves and withering grass, only stopping when he reached his destination at the prison graveyard.

As he looked at the graveyard, Carl compared it to the ones that he had seen in his old life. The graves weren't dug as the old world ones were, just deep enough for the body of whoever died. The tombstones weren't made of marble, stone, or anything like that, just a handmade wooden cross, with the first letter of the departed name carved into.

Carl bent down on one knee to the cold earth, placing a hand of one of the wooden crosses, the disappearing sun made it hard to read the carved letter that was on it, but running his figures against the old wood, he was able to feel out the shape of a carved L.

There were so many things he wanted to say, questions he wanted to ask, but talking to a grave meant nothing to him.

Crunching footsteps alerted Carl that he wasn't alone anymore, but the teen didn't move from his spot on the ground. There was no reason for him to move, the footsteps weren't the shambling ones of a walker, or the careful, hesitant steps an enemy would take when approaching a foe, rather the steps were calm, confident, and strong. The owner of the footsteps stopped at the grave Carl was kneeling next to, and put a hand on his shoulder.

Carl looked away from the grave, and looked to see that the owner of the hand belonged to Hershel. The man's eyes were closed, praying silently in respect to the graves surrounded the both of them.

A moment passed between them, then the older man opened his eyes and let his hand drop from Carl's shoulder, though not before he gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I remember when I first returned to my family's farm when I was younger, I always use to visit my mother's grave." Hershel said in a distant voice. "There were so many things I wanted to say, questions I wanted to ask, but the words would never mouth."

Hershel's face looked older than it normally would, Carl noticed, and as he spoke, there was wary edge to the voice, like he was remembering something he had long since put behind him.

"I'd spend hours just staring at that tombstone, trying to find to voice everything that I was feeling, but everything I could think sounded...forced." Hershel sighed. "It took a long a long time for me to realize why I couldn't think of anything to say."

"What was the reason?" Carl asked.

Hershel looked down at Carl. "What do you think the reason was?"

"I...I don't know." The teen replied.

Hershel gave Carl's shoulder another squeeze. "When you figure it out, come find me." Then the old man walked away from the graves, and made his way back towards the prison.

Looking at Hershel's retreating form, Carl wondered if he would even know enough about Hershel to figure out the man's vague question.

"I hate riddles." Carl mumbled.

* * *

Merle finished up lighting the last touch in Woodbury, turning around to admire his handy-work, he saw that the darkening town was now illuminated by multiple torches fire, making the town look like it was basking in a golden glow.

Walking down the street, he watched as the towns people went about their business, many were just leaving their day jobs, and were now heading home to have dinner with their friends or family. The sight reminded Merle of something out of little house of the prairie, only with a lot more fucking guns.

As he rounded a corner, he spotted Carol sitting on the side-walk, reading a book to a child that was sleeping in her lap, She saw him, and waved him over to join her. Carol stopped reading her book when Merle sat down next to her.

"She kept insisting I keep reading to her, poor little thing couldn't make it to the end. " Carol placed her book on the ground, then careful moved the sleeping girl so that she was sleeping in her arms.

Merle recognized the sleeping child, she was Madison Lintz, she was one of Woodbury's orphans. He wasn't sure what happened to her father, but he knew that girl's mother had committed suicide awhile back. Damn woman had snuck over the guard walls, and just let herself get bitten by some stray bitter.

"Yea, little pistol always running around here like she supergirl." Merle didn't mind the kid, she was a hyper rascal, but she never got in any real trouble.

"Where does she live?" Carol asked standing up with the child. "It's getting late out, I should probably take her home before her parents worry."

"Ain't gotta worry bout that." He replied getting off the sidewalk. "Her parents been outta the picture for a long time."

Carol frowned, she knew that some of the kids in Woodbury lost their parents, but almost of the ones that did had already been taken in by new families. "Where does she live then?"

"Theres an orphanage across town, ran by a woman and her sister." Answered Merle.

Looking down at Madison, Carol gave a sad sigh. A child shouldn't be without their parents, especially one that young. "You think you could show me?"

Merle snorted. "Now I'm a damn tour guide?"

"You said it, not me." Teased Carol sarcastically making Merle frown.

"Yer really hanging around that china-man too much."

"He's Korean, Merle. For the millionth time, he's Korean."

"Whatever."

Carol shook her head, the sleeping child in her arms was starting to get heavy, and she was having trouble keeping her up.

Merle look at Carol then at the Madison, grumbling to himself, he took the child out of her arms, and into his own.

"Guess I can show ya where the damn place at."

Carol smiled. "Thanks Merle. Now lead the way tour guide." She said making Merle grumble.

"Oh, god." whispered Maggie staring at the gruesome message the wall.

* * *

"Saviors...one, hunters zero." Glenn repeated the message over and over, trying to understand what it meant. Then it hit him, it wasn't a message at all.

Glenn's face took on a look of fear. "Maggie, we have to go now!"

Jumping at his outburst, Maggie asked. "Whats wrong?"

"This isn't just a message, it's a score-" Glen was cut off as one of bodies on the ground jumped up and pounced on him, then the once thought corpse began to scream out in rage at them.

"You filthy beasts, did you think you'll live after what you've done?" It screamed out in a raspy feminine voice. "We will burn that evil creation Lucille, then devour your corpse over the flames!"

Glenn was trying with all his might to push the mad woman from him, but she was covered in roo much blood, and his hands were just sliding off of her. It didn't help his efforts that her left eye was dangling out of its socket, and was threatening to just snap off and fall on him.

Running over to her struggling boyfriend, Maggie through all her weight into a push and managed to get the screaming woman off him, but that didn't stop the woman from continuing to scream out to them.

The woman was crawling to them as she screamed. "The kingdom can't save you! Nothing will save you from our wrath!"

Glenn jumped to his feet, still covered in the woman's blood, grabbing Maggie, he ran out of the storage room, and slammed. the door shut behind him. The echos of the womans scream was still heard clearly from the behind the door, but Glenn doubted she could even stand up, more a less open a door. He then started to run away from, still gripping Maggie's hand and dragging her along with him.

The two continued to run, not even looking back to the storage room, the duffel bags they had on them were jumping up and down of their shoulders, but they held firmly onto them. When they made it outside, the couple didn't even bother with opening the trunk of their car, they just jumped into it and sped off.

As the car speed down an empty highway, Glenn and Maggie were still trying to compose themselves after escaping the department store.

Glenn was panting heavy, his heart was still racing from the incident, and he was gripping the steering wheel as hard as he could. He was still covered in blood, but he was too distracted to even notice it. The woman had caught him by surprise, and he just wanted to make a fast exit, he didn't know if any of the other corpses weren't really dead, and he didn't want Maggie getting hurt. Now he was second guessing on not taking the extra time to kill that screaming woman.

Shaking next to him, Maggie had her knees pulled up to her chest, and had her head buried in her arms, just like Glen she was panting, but her face looked much paler than it ever did. Images of what the storage room were replaying in her mind, the mutilated bodies on the floor, burning limbs, the message...wait, the message! What was Glenn about to say?

"Glenn." She spoke out raising her head from her knees. "What were you about to say back there?"

His grip on the wheel tightened even more, and his knuckles turned white. "It was a..." He was having trouble even saying it, it was just, it was just sick.

"It wasn't just a message Maggie." He said to her, voice trembling and filled with disgust. "It was scoreboard."

Dread washed over Maggie's face as realization hit.

"Whatever that was back there," Glenn continued "It wasn't just a massacre, it was part of game."

* * *

_**Author's notes:** Sorry for the short update, the next one will be longer. I've got something planned, and I'm just trying to workout all the small details. I'll have the next update after the new episode, and after that this story will probabley be even more AU than it is now._

_Till next time._

_~Solareon._


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